Inside Out Blog

Go Behind the Scenes of Rolling Stone Magazine During This Interesting Display

For artists, making the cover of Rolling Stone magazine has long been a coveted career achievement. For readers, the images of writers, filmmakers, and musicians have served as a window to rock ’n’ roll’s fantasy realm. Backstage Pass explores how Rolling Stone—through the work of Baron Wolman, its chief photographer from 1967-70—captured and helped define one of the most important eras in music history. See it for yourself at Central Library in Kansas City on Thursday, December 27th.

Through 35 framed photographs, contact sheets, and original magazine covers, Backstage Pass: Baron Wolman and the Early Years of Rolling Stone offers an opportunity to experience how Wolman and the magazine’s editors and other photographers guided the creation of the “rock star” persona from concert to cover to icon.

Feeding the heightened political and cultural climate of the time, featured artists Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Frank Zappa came to represent generational ideals through music, words, and visual imagery. Taking an unobtrusive approach with his subjects, Wolman’s techniques resulted in photographs and eventually magazine covers that capture a rawness and emotion of the artists and a generation. Together, Backstage Pass encourages our understanding of how images become iconic symbols of American history.

“Baron’s [photographs] are set apart for me because of the consistent humanity in his pictures. Whether it is in a studio portrait, a backstage document, or an on-stage performance shot, Baron’s subjects seem to embody the essence of themselves.”—Tony Lane, former Art Director of Rolling Stone

Get up close and personal with yesteryear’s hottest rock stars at this unique music media exhibit. Central Library in Kansas City offers free admission to all.

At The Royale at City Place Apartments in Overland Park, Kansas, we believe it’s important to integrate yourself into the community, which is why we suggest attending this event. Meeting new people, having unfamiliar experiences, and joining neighborhood activities is the key to an exceptional lifestyle.